Legacy Command set

Interesting facts you presented and it's too bad you got over promised under delivered.

I recently inquired about a 990 base that needs to be serviced by them but they didn't want to take it in. In short without going too much into details I was told to buy another unit.

If it provides you insight to your repair, all of my LionScale Modern Boxcars took over a month to repair all cosmetic and physical damages that was received on delivery. In my eyes, that's an easy repair and not too much diagnostics needed. The only thing I could think of that could delay the repair would be a technician or parts. I did receive it back the other day and it took so long that I forgot about this repair.

The girls at customer service are nice and they are doing their job, but it's missing that extra touch most of the times when I work with them. Phone, email, or online form doesn't make a difference. I tried to be nice, frustrated, angry, and neutral calm. Same results essentially, submit a claim, present your receipt if it's in warranty, picture if necessary, ship it to them and wait for it to return. Word of advice don't send them specialty snacks from your home town or state, didn't make a difference. Haha

I too had similar thoughts about stopping purchases of Lionel products or just engines. Since stopping the hobby as a child and getting back into it a few years ago I had a thought. If I had to do it from the start with all the learning and suffering I'd gone through, I'd go all MTH as my main brand. I could write a book on how much grief I had with almost all of their stuff. I can almost accurately give you an educated guess when the best time to send it in as I always had a continuous repair with them.

Not too sure what to tell you besides hang tight and just let that RMA return tracking number email delight you.

I bought an extra set as a backup ...

I have an extra as well but the bottom line is that you shouldn't need one.  In the past turn around times for Legacy Sets have been fairly quick.  It's a bit unnerving that there is such a delay on getting this back when in the past it was quicker. It's frustrating not having it but the Lionel Service Department is top notch.  The Legacy Base is a pretty unique device and as far as I know there was only 1 tech handling those as opposed to engines and such.

I know it is not a good answer, but since you never know what can happen I also have a second Legacy set as a backup (and have used it when one was in for repair).  With a layout of your size and all those locomotives, even if you did stop buying Lionel, you still have a huge investment.  Do yourself a favor and buy a second set while they are still available.   Its a drop in the bucket compared to what you already spent on engines.  Then when you need a repair, you can just send it in and not think about it.   I sent my set in in the beginning of the year and it was a 3 week turn around time start to finish.  

SandJam posted:

I know it is not a good answer, but since you never know what can happen I also have a second Legacy set as a backup (and have used it when one was in for repair).  With a layout of your size and all those locomotives, even if you did stop buying Lionel, you still have a huge investment.  Do yourself a favor and buy a second set while they are still available.   Its a drop in the bucket compared to what you already spent on engines.  Then when you need a repair, you can just send it in and not think about it.   I sent my set in in the beginning of the year and it was a 3 week turn around time start to finish.  

I had mine sent in around the end January as well and got mine back in about the same time. My remote wouldn't stay on.

This sounds like a different" Lionel" than it was several years ago. When I had a mal-function with my cab 2 set,  I called Lionel and got an RA and off it went and it was back in 1 week....Whats going on??

I then bought another system for back up, plus another simply charger system, thus giving me 3 remote Cab 2"s...

I think they must be simply backed up with this being vacation time....Good Luck.

Interesting... have you registered your name and address with Lionel? This usually helps on notifying them you are a repeat customer.

Also note around vacation time, repairs are down for a couple of weeks, I refrain sending anything back around this time.

How many years have you had this set... maybe its time to buy a back up. Mine is showing a little bit of wear, as the bell comes on after I blow the whistle... my kids like to hit that whistle button a lot!

Hang in there!

This Legacy system has been chronic. Imagine fixing every one you've sold. I've invested in the wifi LCS as a backup as well. That may be the future anyway.

I sent mine in a couple of years ago (maybe spring of 2015 or so) and it took right at 1 month to get it back. I like the ideas mentioned above, of having an extra 990 set, I think I might just go with that. I have already been thinking about an extra DCS set due to the phasing out of the remote unit. Might as well have one backup for each system! So far I have not heard anything about Lionel discontinuing anything though. I have not had any further problems with my 990 set since it was repaired, been working just fine since.

A month or so ago, I sent my Legacy set to Lionel for repair (9 years old) and received it back in about three weeks. It now works perfectly! I am very happy that they are doing this great service for free! While my Legacy set was at Lionel, I hooked up my old TMCC set and used that while waiting for the Legacy stuff to return. As noted above it makes sense to have a spare way to run your trains.

Thank you guys for the replay;  what upset me a lot is the time to get it repair, compare with MTH is a big big difference, four weeks and that is, by the way, I bought one of the first DCS (TIU and remote) way back in S. Florida, I believe fifteen years ago and still working like brand new, it never fail, that is Quality, my Legacy is about five years and it went back to Lionel for repairs tree times, but this is the first time is taking so so.... long, you guys maybe are right, I should get a back up set, I do not know, I have to think about it.

Yes Lionel repair department it seems is under manned, and there are changes that have occurred.  They only take warranty repairs, no longer normal billable.  Many parts require a turn in before they will ship a new part.  Hence longer turn around times and cost for you local tech.  Parts warranty are only 30 days, so stocking parts as a tech is a risk.  Seems like more used parts are sent then new ones.  G

I would recommend the Cab 1L set as a back up, I had a 990 for a while that went back 3 times. I now have the Cab 1L and have had it for several years, it has been flawless.

Ray

So this is interesting. If I am currently using the 990 system,(already been repaired once). Would the Cab 1L system be a less expensive backup and still provide most of the Legacy function while the 990 is in for repair?  What changes to engine data need to be done to operate with the Cab 1L?  

TedW posted:

So this is interesting. If I am currently using the 990 system,(already been repaired once). Would the Cab 1L system be a less expensive backup and still provide most of the Legacy function while the 990 is in for repair?  What changes to engine data need to be done to operate with the Cab 1L?  

It will give you a quilling whistle and 99 Legacy Trains.  Nothing else will need to be done other than telling the Cab1L it's controlling a Legacy engine to get the quilling whistle / horn.

Here is a link to the manual...  Cab1L/Base1L Manual

I wouldn't put this in the "Sky is Falling" category yet.  Without knowing the details it's only speculation as to why the repair is taking so long.

Thx for the link, Marty. Put it in iBooks. I agree/understand this is not a problem for anyone other than the OP.  I'm thinking about insurance as I currently have no backup.  Would hate to lose command control for some length of time due to lack of foresight.  TW

I think it is unusual for Lionel to take this long to repair a Legacy system. I agree with MartyE above, hard to speculate with no details. I am wondering if they are waiting on a part or something which would cause the longer delay? Just guessing here of course.

I'm not in for buying a back up. I don't buy two of every engine so I'm certainly not buying another 990 set. If things are this bad then it's time to go elsewhere. Every time I read posts like this my interest with these trains fades.

Rod Miller

I'll provide a little insight here.

Service has experienced a bit of turnover with techs the past year or so. Normal business happenings and we're trying to deal with it as we can. We actually just had a new tech start last week. So there is a learning curve obviously and that comes with repair delays.

The tech responsible for 990 repairs is the sole tech that repairs everything that's not a locomotive. This includes accessories, power supplies, track (command switches), etc. All the high tech stuff that takes time to repair. He's very experienced and is a great tech, but he's having to help out in other areas as needed while we bring new personnel up to speed.

These issues are also the reason that we're not currently accepting charge repairs. As soon as the department becomes more stabilized and the new techs come up to speed, we'll likely be able to accept those again.

So no sky is falling, just usual business fluxes that are part of life. Service's goal is to always be the best.

But I apologize for the inconvenience in the meantime.

Thanks!

Dave, thank you for your response.

Rod Miller

Dave,

Thanks for your honest comments. Always great to hear directly from the company about what is or is not happening. I for one really appreciate this. 

Wow, I will have to say Dave Olson is right. Today, personnel changes are much more frequent than in the past. Our company, one of the largest Honda-Lincoln- Ford dealers in the USA, for years had little turnover of employees, now there is a lot of turnover changes...So, for the record, Lionel has always been great in repairing the Legacy sets, so, please be patient with them. I am a believer in having an extra set for convenience, and that is not meant to cause anxiety. I had lightning hit in my area several years ago, yes, it got the Legacy set up. I could not get the set to work, so, I hooked up my older TMCC set-up and everything worked. I sent the Legacy set to Lionel and two weeks later it came home..I personally appreciate Lionel taking interest in our thoughts, opinions, and happiness in this wonderful hobby. There are very few Legacy repair centers compared to many years ago, so many of us have to rely on Lionel, the company, to repair our trains. I appreciate there help.  Happy Railroading

Thanks Dave for this information. Very glad to have you aboard this train!

Thanks for the update Dave. I appreciate your and Lionel's efforts. Recently a couple of friends here have had their Legacy sets updated, etc. It took a bit longer, but the sets came back perfect. We have a spare set that was passed around during the waiting.

Thank you very much for the info Dave and if you do not mind with all my respects, any idea how much longer do I have to wait for my Legacy set that I sent last May 8, RA # 8062876, Thanks in advance.

Cool glad Dave could give some reassurance to Churu on the situation. Looks like I'll try again to get my 990 fixed later on when things settling down. 

Dave, Thank you for a timely response, as said before it is great to have you aboard. I do fear though that you being on top of things as you are will move up Lionel's ladder, and at that time we may be plunged again into darkness. To few caring people out there, hope you stay with "S".

Ray

Still very disappointment , today I phoned Lionel in order to inquire about my Legacy 990 set, spend one hour on the phone in order to talk to a human being and ask about my set, and I got not respond at all, just music and more music and excuses messages, Lionel  you tread your customers like trash, one hour on the phone for nothing, shame shame on you Lionel

Churu posted:

Still very disappointment , today I phoned Lionel in order to inquire about my Legacy 990 set, spend one hour on the phone in order to talk to a human being and ask about my set, and I got not respond at all, just music and more music and excuses messages, Lionel  you tread your customers like trash, one hour on the phone for nothing, shame shame on you Lionel

Over this past weekend, our facility was struck by a storm that came through. Our backup power went offline, and thus we had no servers, networks, internet, or phones. When power was restored, all the servers had to be setup from new as everything was wiped out. We would have set a message saying this, but we couldn't as obviously the entire system was inaccessible.

So we apologize for you not being able to contact us yesterday or today. Please try tomorrow as our systems are now back up and we should be running normally again tomorrow.

Mother nature can be a pain! 

Thanks for that info Dave, when mother nature gets in the way a lot of thinks can happen and nobody can stop it, hopefully I can be able to get my set soon.

Lionel phoned me and apologized for the delay and inconvenience and told me that they are going to ship my 990 Legacy tomorrow, so, finally in a few days I will run my trains, thanks Lionel.

Good to hear that Lionel can try to make up for mistakes or errors in judgement, your set may have gotten lost in the shuffle. I have had excellent service from them when sending back items for in or out of warranty service.

Ray

Hi, I am back with very, very bad news, finally after 12 weeks I got my  Legacy set in the same condition, it does no work at all, I do not know why Lionel did not fix my Legacy, no signal at all, my locomotives run in conventional, they do not take any command from the Legacy set return from Lionel, totally disappointment with Lionel service, 12 weeks for nothing, What should I do? I have a new RA and shipping label and tomorrow I will ship it back to Lionel; I am wander if this time Lionel is going to fix my Legacy set, SHAME, SHAME on you Lionel, nice way to take care with old customers like me since 1951.

If you are unhappy with the repair send it back and ask that they pay shipping.  Was there any indication on the paperwork what service was performed?  I'm pretty sure they want you to be happy so I doubt they purposely sent it out in disrepair.

Hello Churu.

Your #990 was thoroughly tested before shipping it out. Please contact me privately as I would like to talk to you about what the 990 is doing. I will also then be able to look up the RA and talk to the technician.

Thank you.

Thank you for your attention, I just talked to Angela and unfortunately you were not in your office, I hope during the day I can be able to talk to you, my phone # is 386 755 2394 and my E-mail is magnatti@comcast.net

I will call you this afternoon.

Thank you.

Thank you for your call Dean, finally, this nightmare is coming to the end, Dean is going to resolve this matter, I will post the happy ending.

This is the happy ending, Dean is very helpful and kind gentleman, thank you very much for your special attention and help, my Legacy set is back in business